SunXia wrote:Edit: strengthening relations between peoples?? Aw come on, I mean I know he's trying but he's not out there doing awesome shazazzle!!

You know... it isn't that they gave it to Obama that was a joke. The joke is that they gave it to him based on some notion of what he would be in the future, and the promises (and hype) surrounding him during election. Now, if they had given it to him based on actual accomplishments and what he's done in his presidency that would be another matter entirely.

I find it was dumb because Obama has done nothing to really promote peace. We're still in Afghanistan and we're only sorta pulling out of Iraq. Moreover Obama never made it his intention to make peace. His plan from the get-go was continued war in Afghanistan.

Look, I think wikileaks is an invaluable organization, despite it's many faults (which includes recklessness, compromising security, an undemocratic, opaque process for leaking information etc etc.). What wikileaks is is essentially like...Napster. It's an imperfect system, but it's a game changer in terms of information distribution with an ultimately good goal, and that is to make keeping secrets too costly or untenable for ALL governments around the world.

And now that the floodgates are open, you'll see more and more of these groups like Openleaks, who will continually improve the system to make it more democratic, more responsible etc etc.

I for one applaud both the movement, and the signs that it's maturing. Wikileaks was almost an ego vehicle for Assange, whom I don't find too pleasant and great a person. He ran an opaque dictatorship over this organization which has the ability to do great good, but also great harm if used incorrectly. The shift to making the movement more democratic, the process more transparent and consultative, and the leaks more responsible, is a great thing to my mind.

Crazedmongoose wrote:I for one applaud both the movement, and the signs that it's maturing. Wikileaks was almost an ego vehicle for Assange, whom I don't find too pleasant and great a person. He ran an opaque dictatorship over this organization which has the ability to do great good, but also great harm if used incorrectly. The shift to making the movement more democratic, the process more transparent and consultative, and the leaks more responsible, is a great thing to my mind.

I concur with and applaud this sentiment, though I still tend to think that the modus operandi of WikiLeaks had run up against a fundamental contradiction with its stated raison d’être, a contradiction your analysis seems to have acknowledged but downplayed drastically. It's really a 'who watches the watchers' problem - if your stated goal is to put more information into the hands of the public, ostensibly to better involve them in a more open democracy, the secrecy surrounding the organisation's structure and decision-making process should be a source of no little concern.

I actually have some of the same concerns about OpenLeaks. Yes, they're changing their modus operandi to become a primary source for our more 'traditional' news sources, but it doesn't really appear that we've solved the problem so much as swept it under an institutional rug for some future network analyst to uncover. So you could say that I'm applauding this development, but adding a caveat that one shouldn't expect it to usher in a new golden era of openness and participatory democracy - not without some better governance structures in place.

Some more blood, Chekov. The needle won't hurt, Chekov. Take off your shirt, Chekov. Roll over, Chekov. Breathe deeply, Chekov. Blood sample, Chekov! Marrow sample, Chekov! Skin sample, Chekov! If I live long enough... I'm going to run out of samples.

afisara wrote:Why does wikipedia call wikileaks a terrorist organization? I know there is a lot of controversy about wikileaks releasing classified information, but the way the website is described on wikipedia it sounds like they're making them out to be run by bin laden or something. Its a whistle-blowing organization, not a terrorist organization, right?

"Whatever you do, don't fall off the bridge! It'll be a pain to try to get back up again." - Private, DW 8

Julian Assange has lost his appeal against being deported to Sweden but his defense team have challenged it so the extradition has been put on hold.

“You, are a rebellious son who abandoned his father. You are a cruel brigand who murdered his lord. How can Heaven and Earth put up with you for long? And unless you die soon, how can you face the sight of men?”

Assange has breached bail conditions and is seeking political asylum in the Ecuadorian embassy

“You, are a rebellious son who abandoned his father. You are a cruel brigand who murdered his lord. How can Heaven and Earth put up with you for long? And unless you die soon, how can you face the sight of men?”